“Gay Power to Gay People” Comes to Pride

Five members of the D.C. chapter of the activist group Gay Liberation Front participate in the second annual Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade in New York, in 1971. Photo credit: David Aiken (courtesy of Rainbow History Project).

In conjunction with 2014 Capital Pride festivities, the Rainbow History Project and the Historical Society of Washington will co-host a public panel discussion on the 1970s-era group Gay Liberation Front (GLF), one of the radical LGBT groups created following the Stonewall Riots of 1969.

The Gay Liberation front, which borrowed its tactics and lessons from the Civil Rights, Women’s Liberation, and anti-war movements of the 1960s, participated in protests, social organizing and demonstrations aimed at obtaining rights for gay people. Branches of the GLF were established throughout the country, with Washington’s chapter being established at a house located at 1620 S St. NW.

The Rainbow History Project has tracked the impact of the GLF on Washington’s LGBT community, and the organizations that were created by GLF members. Rainbow History Project board member Philip Clark will moderate the panel, titled “‘Gay Power to Gay People': The Gay Liberation Front-DC,” which includes four former members of the GLF: Brian Miller, Kent Jarratt, Michael Yarr and Nancy Tucker. Items related to GLF’s D.C. chapter will be on display during the panel.

“In a time of rising assimilation by the LGBT community, it’s crucial to remember the radical roots of our equality movement, as exemplified by Gay Liberation Front-DC,” Clark said in a statement explaining why he chose to hold the panel discussion.

“‘Gay Power to Gay People': The Gay Liberation Front-DC” will take place on Saturday, June 7 at 11 a.m. at the Historical Society of Washington’s Kiplinger Library, located in the Carnegie Library at Mount Vernon Square, 801 K St. NW. The discussion is free and open to the public. For more information, visit http://www.rainbowhistory.org.

John Riley is the local news reporter for Metro Weekly. He can be reached at jriley@metroweekly.com

Please Leave a Comment

Your photo credit above is incorrect…the above photo of the early GLFers was taken by David Aiken, one of the founders of GLF DC at the 1970 Gay Pride march in New York City…..it appeared originally on the cover of Motive Magazine, the national youth publication of the Methodist Church in 1972, and was given to the Rainbow History Project archives by the editors of the magazine…

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